Alexander-Arnold could cut short break to face West Ham

Jurgen Klopp says he has reached a “special agreement” with Trent Alexander-Arnold which may see the youngster return to training early and stake his claim for a starting place in the season-opener against West Ham.

Ordinarily, Klopp would grant players a three-week holiday following a major tournament but Alexander-Arnold, understudy to Kieran Trippier, played less than 90 minutes in Russia is keen to link back up with the Liverpool squad.

And while the manager wants to ensure the right-back is sufficiently well-rested, he hinted that he could rejoin the fold in the club’s four-day training camp in France, putting him in contention for the first competitive game of the season.

“With Trent I have a special agreement,” Klopp explained. “He wanted to be in earlier. As he’s very young I said ‘okay, have two weeks holiday and then we’ll speak and see’.

“If you asked Trent he would be good to join us in Evian [July 31st to August 3rd]. But I’m not sure I will do that.”

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MARIBOR, SLOVENIA – Tuesday, October 17, 2017: Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrates scoring the seventh goal during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between NK Maribor and Liverpool at the Stadion Ljudski vrt. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

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However, Jordan Henderson and Dejan Lovren, whose sides both progressed to the business end of the competition, are unlikely to feature against the Hammers after playing key roles for their country.

Henderson, much like Alexander-Arnold, was eager to begin his pre-campaign almost immediately, but Klopp sensibly rebuffed him.

Asked if the West Ham game would come too soon for Henderson and Lovren, Klopp replied: “If you asked Jordan probably not! It was a hard fight to convince him that he needed a holiday.

“I knew it would happen! On the phone I said ‘crazy’. Jordan needs a holiday so that means August 5 he will be back.

“Dejan had a party in Croatia and played a day later so he will be back on August 6. That would mean five days training after three weeks holiday.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – JULY 11: Dejan Lovren of Croatia celebrates following his sides victory in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Semi Final match between England and Croatia at Luzhniki Stadium on July 11, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Klopp will be able to call upon new recruit Fabinho in defensive midfield during Henderson’s absence, while Joel Matip, Joe Gomez or Ragnar Klavan will deputise for Lovren.

“I hope we are in a situation where we don’t need to think about using these two [in the game against West Ham],” he said.

“I want to have them desperately but the season is really long. We have three games before the first international break.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com